Shadowy Undercover Mission
by willwrite4fics
Summary: SnakeEyes, Jinx and Dusty are undercover but when a 'shadowy' figure from their past shows up, things may be complicated. Zero OCs. Zero Beachhead. I know. This story happens about the same time that Ranger Rendezvous is happening, but separate.
1. Chapter 1

Hi again, and I apologize that it's been so long without new fics. If you're reading this, then I'm very appreciative that you're still interested in my stories!

This is set at the same time of Ranger Rendezvous and has no Beachhead at all. It was very strange to write without him in it too! Jinx and Dusty are undercover at a suspected Cobra office and SnakeEyes is supposed to break in to retrieve intelligence on Cobra's operations. I hope you enjoy, and if you have questions or comments or anything, free to review or PM.

I'd like to thank Karama9, LadyJaye1 and TinySprite for all their beta work and assistance. They're the only thing that kept me from scrapping it. Hopefully it's enjoyed so I'm glad I didn't scrap it!

* * *

Undercover

Jinx stood at the secretarial desk, blinking her dark eyes up at the man flirting with her. As she twisted nervously side to side, her short skirt swung a bit in a innocently alluring fashion, drawing the eyes of half the males in the office. She was sure that a field of desks filled with busy workers surrounding her and the public venue was all that kept the man's hands to himself.

"So Kimi.. how about you and me.. nice restaurant.. about seven friday night? We can go back to my place afterwards.. have a few drinks..." His oily smile turned up a notch as she put a hand over her mouth to titter nervously.

"Oh.. I don't know.. it's such a tempting idea... but I really shouldn't." She giggled as his smile increased, clutching the files across her chest to modestly conceal herself. The lacy top of her blouse revealed a little more than it covered. "I should get back to work.. I have so much to do!"

He gave a little bow over her hand, flourishing as he backed away grinning. "Until the next time we shall meet, my lovely lady..."

She giggled again and turned to run away, her mincing steps carrying down to her desk. She seated herself demurely, blushing at the attentions given her by the important office manager. Pushing aside her pink fluffy bunnies that sat along the edge of her work space, she booted up the terminal on her desk and began to input the file data carefully.

A few hours later, she packed up her Hello Kitty backpack and bounced off to punch out on the timeclock. She paused at a mirrored one-way window to check her anime poofed up hairstyle was still in place, turning her head to the side to admire how the dangley earrings glittered.

"Kimi? You're next." The young man who had the desk beside hers hazarded giving her a slight touch on her arm, pointing to the timeclock they were standing in line for. "You look really nice today, by the way."

She giggled at him, suddenly covering her mouth with a hand. "Sorry! Do you like my hair? It has glitter!" She shook her head a little bit to make the earrings swing one last time before she stepped up to slide her card into the machine. "Okay! I'll see you tomorrow morning all bright and chipper! Right?!"

He nodded and watched her skip off, the skirt flipping around lean tawny thighs. "Yeah... bright and chipper Kimi..." He wiped a bit of drool off his lip before he turned his attention from the bubbly airhead back to his own timecard.

* * *

Kimi Arashikage unlocked her apartment door and stepped inside, tossing the silly backpack aside and latching her multitude of manual locks back in place. She stepped over the nearly invisible thread strung across the entrance to the tiny living room. The slightest brush against it would tug it free of the minuscule amount of adhesive attaching it to the walls.

"Aaahhhh..." She headed directly for the kitchenette, dragging out eggs and omelet fixings to start cooking herself something to eat. "I'm starving." She turned to see a dark figure slipping in through her window off the fire escape and grinned. "You want a omelet Sensei?"

SnakeEyes shook his head and closed and latched the window, drawing the dark curtain across it. *Ate earlier. Any luck today?* She shook her head as he began to pull off the various straps and weapons. *Any progress at all?*

"Oh yes.. very much so. I think that another few days of working on the computer system and I'll have a backdoor into the security files. I'm hoping I can get in soon, otherwise I might have to actually go out on a date with Tillerman... and I might have to break both his slimy hands if that happens." She folded the eggs over with an expert touch. "How about you? Did you find out what the topside security is like?"

*Standard outer alarms.. but top line internal triggers. No way to get in without setting off something. If you make a hole in the defense ring, I can get in. Otherwise, we are shut out.* He stretched and picked up the comm unit to begin keying in a daily report to Mainframe at the Pitt.

A light knock at the door made him go check. Once he glanced through the peephole, he unlocked the door and motioned for the sandy-haired young man to step over the thread.

"Hey Snakes.. hi Jinx! Good lord it's FREEEZING. How do people even live here in Minneapolis?" Dusty set down a lunch box and sniffed at Jinx's plate. "Heyyy... I want a omelet too."

"Then make yourself one." The ninja trainee took her plate to the living room to settle on one end of the couch. She began wolfing down to egg concoction quickly. "I'm SO starving. Those tiny lunches that 'Kimi' eats aren't enough to nourish a hummingbird."

While he looked slightly disappointed, Dusty began to work at heating the pan back up to fix himself food. "Yeah.. poor Jinx. I spent all day today repairing an AC unit on the roof. I need thicker thermals to wear."

SnakeEyes seemed amused. *I know. I watched you. I was inside a duct on the building next door most of the day, because you and your workcrew were in my way.*

The desert specialist shook his head. "Sorry, I'm not the boss, can't tell people to move so my friend the ninja can have an easier time of infiltrating please." He poked at the egg mixture in the pan and went to the bedroom to grab a blanket to wrap around himself. "Can't we turn the heat up in here a LITTLE? I'm gonna die."

SnakeEyes scoffed at him, signing rapidly before going back to his typing. *It's not that cold. Toughen up.*

Dusty frowned. "Gee thanks 'beachhead', I thought I left you back at the Pit. I'm a desert trooper.. not a snow trooper. Why didn't SnowJob get sent here instead of me?" His half-plaintive complaints didn't impress either of the ninjas. "You guys suck. Just because you sit under ice-filled streams to meditate and stuff doesn't mean the rest of us normal folks should have to freeze to death. Why does Extensive Enterprises have to have offices here in Minneapolis? Why can't they have them in Duluth?"

Jinx shoveled in the last bite of eggs with cheese and ham. "What does it matter? Duluth, Minneapolis.. same thing." She unfolded herself from the couch and took her dish to wash in the kitchen sink. "I think you're just griping because you have some deep seated need to whine."

Shaking a bottle of ketchup over the plate, Dusty added a generous helping to his omelet. "Grunts are allowed to whine. It's part of the Army by-laws."

Smiling under his mask, SnakeEyes shifted to sit lower in his chair. *What about non-grunts?*

A loud snort and the trooper added more pepper. "Officers don't whine. Officers bitch. Usually about grunts. Or NCOs. Either way."

Keeping a straight face as she began pulling the various pins and hairsticks out of the heavily moussed hairstyle, Jinx sighed. "That explains Flint. Warrant officers get to bitch AND whine." She turned as SnakeEyes snapped his fingers twice. He shook a finger at her. "Sorry Sensei."

*Show proper respect to the rank.*

She nodded. "Yes Sensei." Pushing the small coffeetable to one side, she began to do her katas.

Finished eating his omelet, Dusty stood and watched with a great deal of appreciation for the short skirt. He sighed lightly and turned to take his plate to the kitchen and ran directly into SnakeEyes' chest. The ninja stood within a foot of him, staring at him with a stiff posture, his disapproving glare coming through the visor easily. "Ahh.. hi SnakeEyes... " He turned and looked at Jinx again then back to the stern visage. "I was just... you know.. " He smiled. "I was admiring how well.. trained Jinx is. Really good training and conditioning.."

SnakeEyes seemed to almost grow in stature as he drew himself up. *You will not 'admire' my apprentice.*

Dusty nodded. "Yes SnakeEyes. No admiring. Got it." He edged around the dangerous form. "Noooooo admiring."

Jinx snorted and slid her eyes over to give her sensei a significant look. He twitched his shoulders straighter and gazed back at her until she looked away and continued with the exercises.

SnakeEyes was sleeping in the second bedroom and Jinx had taken the forward one. This left Dusty with the couch but then, he didn't really mind couches. They were more comfortable than some Army cots and a lot better than the floor. Plus when you were sleeping on the couch you never missed out on things because you were central to any discussions or interactions. Hearing a slight scuff he raised up to peer over the back of his couch and listened carefully.

The flaw in his reasoning was of course that it didn't work at all when you roomed with two ninja, who conversed in sign language half the time. He couldn't even overhear arguments. Sighing, he shifted himself back down into the soft recesses of the cushions and sent up a little hopeful wish that he'd wake up in time to see Jinx walking around in her briefs before breakfast again. SnakeEyes said not to 'admire' her but if she was walking around in front of him, it wasn't like he could put out his own eyes and not see, right? Considering that idea, along with his own personal observations of both Jinx's and SnakeEyes' abilities at putting out eyes, Dusty twisted himself around to face into the blank back of the couch. It was just safer that way.

* * *

Jinx stared defiantly into her Sensei's eyes. No, not her sensei, but SnakeEyes. Her hands flew quickly through the practiced motions of ASL. *I can see whoever I want to see even if it is a teammate*

SnakeEyes was already stiff with anger. * You will not! Especially not Dusty*

Looking towards the closed door leading to the living room Jinx pressed her lips together. She did not want the man overhearing this particular argument. *What's wrong with Dusty?*

Looking slightly confused she watched the master ninja pause as he tried to think of an objection that was valid. *He's too old for you and he's your teammate and he's...* Again SnakeEyes paused. *He's gaijin!*

Furious Jinx snapped her hands into motion. *Pardon me oh grand master ninja of the clan but I may humbly point out that you are a gaijin too.*

SnakeEyes shook his head. *That's different and he's still too old and still your teammate.* He made a cutting motion with a hand to indicate the subject was closed.

Ignoring that, Jinx stepped forward. *What about you and Scarlett? She your teammate.*

SnakeEyes stared at her until she relented and looked aside. *Scarlett and I share a bond that predates you joining the team. You practically just met Dusty. And..* He emphasized each word this time. *He's* *Too* *Old*

She snorted and gave a formal bow dismissing herself. She muttered softly to herself as she left the room, knowing he'd hear her. "Wasn't like I wanted to keep him.."

SnakeEyes put a hand to his forehead and then dropped into a lotus position on the floor to try to meditate and regain his composure. He wasn't certain whether Kimi's attitude was typical for Japanese girls, or typical for young female recruits, or some sort of weird combination thought up by the powers that be just to drive him crazy. For once he actually felt a kinship with Beachhead of all people. He'd seen the Sergeant major carefully keeping new greenshirts from forming any sort of romantic attachments, especially seen him interfering in attempts by certain of the Joe team to come along paying court to any new female recruits. It had seemed amusing and SnakeEyes had put money down in many of the betting pools on who would be able to lock up with who despite BeachHead's efforts. Now maybe this was karma biting him in his rear.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, collecting his thoughts and calming himself to find his center. The old meditation technique soothed him in mind and body, allowing his muscles to relax and slacken to a restful state.

The beeping of his comm unit made him blink and roll his eyes. Clicking it on he watched the message flash at him and typed out a quick reply. Some technical question from Breaker about the information Jinx had already acquired. SnakeEyes typed in the specs for the base's technical crew and then set the unit back onto the nightstand. He'd just go to bed, everything was conspiring to keep him from settling anyway. Perhaps he could find some peace in his sleep. Or maybe he'd have another dream involving Scarlett and the new nightgown she'd shown off to him the week before he'd left on this mission. Either way, it's better than sitting on a cold floor wondering how to handle a young Japanese woman with a mind of her own and a stubborn nature.

0 0 0 0

As he dropped into a deep sleep, there was a silent shadow outside the locked window with it's boobytraps. Thin lips curved upwards into a slight smile of amusement before it slid away to disappear into the night. Time enough to confront those within.

* * *

End Chapter

That's the end of chapter one! I hope you enjoyed.


	2. Chapter 2: The Shadow Appears

Second chapter! Sorry I didn't get this posted yesterday. Busy weekend making 450 tamales by hand. I now know how to make tamales in the pre-Columbian style. I also will have no desire to make tamales for the forseeable future. *grins*

To LadyJoe who said it was stupid for SnakeEyes to say that Dusty being gaijin was a reason for Jinx not to date him... of COURSE it was stupid. He was grasping at straws, which is why even Jinx told him it was silly by pointing out SnakeEyes himself is gaijin. So SnakeEyes is just trying to protest in any way he can think of, because he still thinks of "little Kimi" instead of Agent Jinx. He's trying to be all "big brotherly" and like an "uncle" and failing rather spectacularly. I'm really glad SOMEONE saw how silly an argument it was though!

No Beachhead! He's busy at the Ranger Rendezvous(getting busy... heh heh), but I will have other fics with him later on. (also, Clutch's attempt to fill that request ended poorly for him... but Lifeline says the cast can come off in 4-6 weeks).

On to the fic, thank you to all who reviewed! You guys totally rock and now I'm glad that I didn't trash the whole thing.

Thank you again to Karama9 and TinySprite and all my author friends helping me out. It's appreciated.

* * *

Chapter 2

Early the next morning, SnakeEyes was stretching and walked out into the living room to see Dusty headed for the small bath with a dishtowel held over his eyes. Staring at the crazy desert trooper, the ninja wondered what exactly he was doing when he spotted Jinx humming to herself in the kitchen as she packed the tiny whimsical lunch for her workday. Her briefs and spaghetti strap bare-midriff shirt made him sigh lightly.

Turning to glare after Dusty, he could vaguely hear the muttering under the cloth. "Not looking... don't pluck out my eyeballs... I'm being good... not looking..." just before he walked into the doorjam with a thump. "I'm okay!" The trooper closed the door firmly behind himself and SnakeEyes turned his attention back to the slightly built apprentice happily stuffing herself with a hearty breakfast.

*Put on some clothing* His signs were sharp and annoyed in their motions and she didn't argue this time. Trotting to her room she came out in a remarkably short time dressed in another skimpy outfit that somehow managed to resemble both a schoolgirl's uniform and a cheap hooker's outfit for a busy saturday night. Having observed some of the same types of outfits being worn on the other female workers at the offices, SnakeEyes couldn't object but he could frown in a disapproving manner, which he made certain to do. It had little effect on the chipper young woman, but it made him feel as if he had done something about it.

"Goodbye Sensei, I have to leave for work." She smiled as she left, stepping over the thread boobytrap carefully. "Don't forget to take Dusty for his walkies so he doesn't leave a mess in the apartment." The door shut behind her before SnakeEyes could sign a reply.

Dusty came out looking around a bit too avidly for the ninja's taste. "Did Kimi leave?" His gaze stopped at the blank visage of SnakeEyes' visor. "Uhh.. just wanted to make sure she got off okay.. I mean.. that she left for work okay.. so she wouldn't be late... I mean to work, not that she'd be late any other way because you know... " He swallowed and reached down blankly to scoop up his bag of tools. "I should just go. Early to work and all that."

He grabbed his jacket on the way out and was gone in seconds. SnakeEyes stood for a moment contemplating how badly Hawk would yell if one of his desert troopers went missing. Seeing as Dusty was the premiere desert trooper and their best air conditioning repair guy, he probably shouldn't actually disable him. Scaring him was always within bounds however.

Slipping out the window, SnakeEyes set the last of their booby traps and tells to show if anyone fiddled with anything trying to get into the apartment and then he was off across the rooftops. Even in a busy city like this, people rarely noticed anything over head height, which was foolish considering how much was really above a person's head. The apartment buildings teemed with balconies and fire escapes and flower boxes, laundry lines and water pipes making a virtual highway for an experienced ninja.

It took him almost two hours to make his way unseen to the building beside the offices where Jinx was working. He arrived about the same time that she would. Leaning out slightly over an ornamental bit of architecture, SnakeEyes watched her skip merrily across the courtyard, waving brightly to the security guards like a completely brainless bit of fluff. Her ability to blend into the group and appear so completely harmless astounded him. He'd seen her move across a battlefield in the same amount of time that she'd skipped across the courtyard, taking out half a platoon of armed Vipers in such a messy manner that the rest fled rather than continue trying to kill her.

Once she entered the building, he settled back into the shadows and disentangled the electronic listening device he used to eavesdrop on a few bugs Jinx had already deposited in various locations. He rarely heard anything useful, but it kept him busy now that he'd already scouted the entire building and found the most likely points of entry once Jinx made a security hole for him. Normally a ninja as trained as SnakeEyes would have no issue sneaking into a building and stealing whatever they needed. This time, he was certain his errant Clan brother had advised the security set up. It seemed almost tailored to keep out trained ninja commandos. He could still get in but would never be able to retrieve the data and get out without setting off at least a few alarms. The computer maze alone would take someone of Mainframe or Breaker's abilities.

He sighed lightly and braced one foot against a out-thrust bit of concrete to stabilize his body weight. That's why Hawk had the GI Joe team instead of one antisocial ninja. He heard a slight sigh of fabric brushing across brickwork and shifted his position to smoothly rise and face the shadowy form that emerged behind him.

Signing calmly, SnakeEyes stayed ready for anything from a friendly greeting to an all out attack. *How are you, my brother?*

StormShadow looked disappointed as he changed his angle to seat himself on a miniscule ledge. To most it would look as if that had been his objective all along. SnakeEyes was not fooled.

Balanced in an impossibly contorted lotus position, StormShadow nodded at him in greeting. "I am well, brother." He gave a slight gesture for the dark-clad ninja to take his seated position again and waited while SnakeEyes did so warily. "Why so tense Brother? I'm only here to talk, I missed you. Not happy to see me?"

*I did not expect you* SnakeEyes paused a moment. *I am glad you are well* He deliberately relaxed and took a moment to check the audio pickups for anything happening inside the building.

Storm watched and tilted his head slightly, obviously listening to the earbud tucked into SnakeEyes' ear without effort. "Sounds relatively calm... for a Cobra run facility. How is Kimi doing?"

Sighing ever so slightly, SnakeEyes signed quickly, telling Storm of the issues he was having keeping her away from Dusty. Thinking for a moment, he added, *Your cousin is very good at undercover. She never breaks character*

Now Storm produced a small blade and began to polish it, rubbing a small smudge absently. "Why would you keep her from Dusty? Is he a dishonorable person? In GI Joe? I think not." He seemed to be amused at the notion and even smiled when SnakeEyes tilted his head at him in obvious query. "Jinx is quite capable of fending off any unwanted advances if she chooses to end a relationship or if the young man in question decides that some meaningless sex translates as an exclusive relationship. Unless you think she'd go overboard and disable him, causing a lowering in available manpower?"

Waving that concern aside, SnakeEyes began to sign. *She is too young, he is too old...*

"Ahhhhh!" Storm nodded in understanding. "You don't think he'll be able to keep up with her in bed and thus there would be emotional damage to his self-esteem. Good thinking Brother. Can't have little Kimi destroying your teammate's ego. I'm sure she'll find a younger more energetic one soon..."

Now SnakeEyes stared at him. *She is TOO YOUNG* His gestures swung wide as he emphasized the words. *You act as if it would be fine... for her to just run about having sex with anyone* Folding his arms, he awaited the explosion of temper as Tommy realized exactly what Kimi had been plotting.

Instead Tommy laughed softly. "Why wouldn't it be fine? She wasn't raised in Iowa to think that humans should be ashamed of sex. She's an adult, he's an adult. Healthy adults have these urges... I happen to know that you have these urges and you regularly satisfy those urges with your redheaded witch woman."

Stiffening, SnakeEyes signed in short abrupt movements. *Do not disparage Scarlett*

Storm looked contemplatively at his thumb. "You know, she left a scar when she bit me. I think I'm entitled to call her a witch. She's certainly bewitched you..." He suddenly grinned slyly. "I don't suggest you try to fistfight me on this ledge over your woman's honor, I'll just push you off the edge."

SnakeEyes twisted to look at the building he was watching over, signing to the air in front of himself. *You would try to kill me? I thought you were here to talk and not fight?* He was relaxed even as he bantered with his old sword brother. If Storm was here to fight, as he'd done before so many times, he would have launched into the fray immediately, not seated himself to chat.

"It's hardly a way to kill you. I would assume you haven't gone so soft as to die with a mere fall off a fifteen story building with ample handholds." Tommy gave a little bit of a sigh and began to watch the building idly as well. "I just..." He stopped and began to think.

After a few moments of silence, SnakeEyes turned to gaze at him, spreading his hands in query. No matter what Tommy tried to imply, his fellow Arashikage had not tracked him down and approached him just for idle greetings and taunting about his mid-western morals.

Pausing another few seconds, Tommy finally took a breath. "I'm trying to decide what I should do. I can hardly go back to the Arashikage compound as if nothing happened. I don't feel it's right for me to simply hide and meditate on all the ill things I've done, however willing or unwilling the actions might have been. But unless I want to become a real life Batman and run around stopping bad things from happening to random citizens, I don't see a way to do anything to repair my honor." He glanced over at the silent ninja. "That sounds rather... self-important. But I have done so much wrong in my life... I feel a need to help do something to correct this."

SnakeEyes nodded thoughtfully. *You were being controlled...*

StormShadow looked down at his now gleaming blade and tucked it back into his sleeve. "I was not controlled when I first joined Cobra. I willingly worked for the Commander in exchange for finding the real murderer. It was only later when I declared that I would no longer serve that I was... controlled." He was obviously uncomfortable with acknowledging his brainwashing. "Even if I discount all the later actions, although they would never have happened if I had not made the poor decision to work for Cobra to begin with... there is much to atone for."

*What will you do?* SnakeEyes turned to look at his brother. *Become a monk and serve soup to the unfortunate? I think you'd prefer the Batman option*

Tommy grinned again. "I think you're calling me an adrenaline junkie. No, no monk's robes for me. If I wanted to contemplate my navel and sit about uselessly, I can do that all by myself. I considered starting a dojo, but it doesn't seem as if that would do anything to oppose the evil of the world." He stopped again, obviously he wasn't going to outright ask advice from his long-time opponent. Just as obviously, he was hoping for some suggestion.

SnakeEyes brightened suddenly. *Join GI Joe*

Now Storm laughed cynically. "Oh yes! There's a wonderful suggestion! I'm certain that the Joes would ADORE a former enemy coming strolling in through the ductwork saying 'hi guys, I decided to join you instead of slicing you into small bits, so what's for dinner?' Yes yes, that's just a grand idea." He picked at the concrete under his fingers with nervous movements.

Waiting out the laughter and the sharp comments, SnakeEyes answered. *They'd rather serve with you than face you in battle. You WOULD be opposing the same evil that you were serving. It would be...* He paused before adding the sign, *karmic in nature, balancing your actions for the evil with actions against the evil*

Storm frowned at him. "You can't possibly be serious? Me? In a top secret military outfit? I'm on the FBI's most wanted list, I checked last time I broke into Quantico."

Putting a hand over his visor briefly, SnakeEyes shook his head. *Don't mention breaking into highly secure places in polite conversation, okay?* He continued more calmly. *I can arrange for you to meet with Hawk and you could tender a sincere offer to join the team. At worst, Hawk will tell you no*

Storm snorted. "At worst Hawk will shoot me at close range several times with a high caliber handgun. Then he'll let Beachhead shoot me a few times. Then Scarlett can put a few crossbow bolts in sensitive bits of my anatomy."

Signing nonchalantly considering his brother was talking about his own commanding officer murdering him, SnakeEyes replied. *You'd just dodge and run away*

"Well yes.. but that's not the point."

*What IS the point? You can offer and he can accept or refuse. Or did your pledge when you joined the Ranger corps mean nothing to you at all?* SnakeEyes knew that would sting but he was not adverse to bruising his brother's ego in order to help steer him towards not only the path that would make things right but also towards the only help he could think to offer.

"You know my word is my honor!" Storm nearly forgot his surroundings to shout then clamped his mouth shut and fumed. "Well played, my sneaky manipulative brother." He took a few deep breaths. "IF I agreed to this ludicrous idea, how would you arrange it? Hawk is not likely to agree to just have me show up in his office in the Pitt you know, and it's not as if his superiors are going to agree to let me just join up with the top secret team, since I'm a fugitive right now."

Waving aside any of StormShadow's objections, SnakeEyes relaxed back against the stone wall at his back. *I will inform Hawk. If Hawk wants you on the team then you will be on the team.* His confidence didn't leave any room for more arguments. *Will you at least give the idea a chance?*

Straightening up easily from his seated position, Storm sounded hesitant. "I'll... I'll give your suggestion some thought. I don't promise anything. And if they decide I should be locked up in prison, I'll simply escape."

Nodding, SnakeEyes didn't watch as his sword brother disappeared up the wall of the building, effortlessly scaling the nearly sheer wall with ease. Having StormShadow with the team would be preferable to him being in the open where it would be possible for Cobra to get their hooks back into him. It wasn't likely that the terrorists would easily take the ninja into custody alive, but no one was superhuman. It was better for him to have the added protections of the GI Joe team.

Sighing lightly, he watched as Dusty's team of repairmen emerged onto the building's roof to begin working on the industrial sized AC units. With any luck, soon there would be some break that he could exploit to get inside, get the data and then they could have Jinx fabricate some emergency and quit. While they could easily simply walk away and not have her return, such a disappearance could easily alert the company security that something had been amiss with the cheerful young worker. It would be better for them to acquire all the information and leave without Cobra any the wiser.

It made for a very long boring mission of waiting, however.

* * *

End Chapter

Well now everyone knows who the shadow was...

Readers loved, reviewers adored!


	3. Chapter 3: Realizations

Sorry for the late update! Migraine last night. Usual disclaimer, I don't make money, only mean to honor creators of Joe, all Joe characters are property of Hasbro, etc etc.

* * *

Chapter 3

Kimi was furious with him and shouting with no regard to anyone overhearing them. "WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HIM?!"

Crossing his arms, SnakeEyes waited her out as she fumed angrily.

"I know I KNOW! It wouldn't have worked to detain him but you could have tried!" She clenched her fists tightly and struggled to calm herself. "Why didn't you ask him about the brainwashing? We don't know much other than something was being done to control him! How are we supposed to help if we don't know because you were too squeamish to ask about it?"

SnakeEyes rolled his eyes. *Because if I had pried, he would have fled rather than face it. You didn't see how tense he was. I want him with us so we CAN help him. Satisfying morbid curiosity for no reason isn't a priority.*

She glared. "It isn't morbid curiosity, I just want to know how bad it was and what we can do to help him."

Now SnakeEyes relented a bit. *Remember I have experienced the effects? I know how hard it is to break the conditioning and the mental walls. He has obviously pulled himself free of the delusions and now he simply is adrift and unsure where to take his life next.*

Dusty came walking in the front door and smiled affably at them both. "Hey guys! Man it's still freezing out there.. I hate working on that roof. No wind protection at... hey.. something wrong?" He stopped and stood still as the two ninja continued their argument heedless of his presence.

Jinx stepped closer to her sensei. "I have known him much longer than you have, he's MY cousin, he's no blood to you!"

Now the older ninja stiffened in anger at her. *Your cousin you have barely set eyes on for the last years. Just because he used to buy you sweets doesn't mean he's the same person. I'm his sword brother. That bond is deeper than an accident of birth.* He obviously regretted the words as soon as he finished signing them. *Kimi, StormShadow is not the older cousin who teased you and brought you presents. He has been through much in life that has changed him*

Dusty's eyebrows shot up. "Whoa... who's cousin? StormShadow? He's here? Oh god... I'm going to die... " His eyes searched the room frantically as if the ninja would be hiding nearby ready to leap out and skewer him. "He's here right now, isn't he?"

SnakeEyes snapped his fingers impatiently. *Stop it. StormShadow is not going to kill anyone*

"Oh yeah, easy for YOU to say! You're a ninja! You can dodge bullets and block deadly sword attacks with your eyelashes... I'm just a trooper... I'm the cannon fodder that guys like you chop up to use as airborne blunt objects!" Dusty backed across the room, whirling to stare suspiciously at the large potted fern in the corner. "He's in there, isn't he?"

Jinx snorted. "No, he's not in the apartment. Calm down Dusty. He's not working for Cobra anymore and he was brainwashed when he WAS working for them. So shut up."

SnakeEyes refrained from pointing out that Storm had worked for Cobra before being brainwashed and was also quite capable of killing people before and after his work for Cobra. Instead he turned and pointed at the couch. *Sit. You are safe* His eyes flicked up to Jinx's face briefly. *The mission continues the same as before. Nothing changes*

Dusty was sitting gingerly on the edge of the couch cushions. "Nothing changes? Oh yeah, just a deadly crazed ninja with mental problems running amuck while we try to keep undercover at a Cobra facility where if we get caught, they'll probably melt us with acid. Yeah, that's fine, we'll just act like nothing happened."

Jinx sighed and turned to SnakeEyes. "We shouldn't have let him know about this at all. It would be easier for him to just not know."

Dusty suddenly looked alarmed. "Easier? Wait... what else is going on that you never told me? There's more isn't there?"

SnakeEyes felt the beginnings of a headache. *See? Now he's paranoid. You were the one shouting when he came in*

Dusty pointed at him. "I knew it! There IS more! What else? Wait.. how long have you been keeping me in the dark? What was happening on OTHER missions? Oh god.. it's dangerous isn't it? There's some terrible secret thing that will end up killing me and you just don't want me to worry until it happens, right? I'm right, aren't I?"

Jinx stepped over and patted Dusty gently. "Hey, it's all right, nothing bad is happening.. really.. you should relax." On cue, the desert trooper slumped over facedown on the couch as Jinx pinched his sleeping point carefully. "There.. that's better."

*JINX Don't knock out your teammate!*

She shrugged innocently. "What? He was getting annoying."

*How would you feel if one of the team knocked you unconscious?* SnakeEyes checked Dusty's pulse and lifted his legs up onto the couch in a more comfortable position.

"I'd like to see one try! There's no one on the team who could..." Jinx's amused voice made SnakeEyes straighten and give her a hard stare and she suddenly stepped back a little. "I mean.. you're right, Sensei I acted thoughtlessly. I will apologize when he wakes up." At the short nod of agreement she relaxed just a little. "What are we going to do about Tommy?"

*We will do nothing. I will contact Hawk on a secure line and report on what is happening and what may happen. You will do nothing different and concentrate on the mission* SnakeEyes continued to stare her down until she nodded and agreed. Whatever happened in the next few days, it promised to be exciting. Right now, SnakeEyes needed to find a way to phrase his report so that Hawk wouldn't come out to eviscerate his favorite ninja for promising things outside his authority.

* * *

Predictably, Dusty had been angry and annoyed when he'd awoken. Also predictably, the affable young man lost his annoyance and was back to his normal cheer within an hour or so. He was still jumpy and apt to suddenly dart across a room to swish his hands through a set of curtains or the hapless fern, but overall he was back to smiling and joking with the two ninja.

To help make up for her actions, Jinx volunteered to cook dinner. This had caused a rapid acceleration in Dusty's happier attitude. Like most Army grunts, Dusty was happiest when being fed decent chow. The fact that the very attractive young woman was cooking it didn't hurt in the least.

He was seated on a tall stool in the kitchen helping her chop up raw vegetables when SnakeEyes emerged from his bedroom. "Hey Snakes! How'd the report go over? Are you ordered to stab yourself or anything?" His enthused tone made SnakeEyes give Jinx a baleful glare. "Are we being pulled back to the Pitt?"

*Mission still on. Hawk agreed to meet with StormShadow if we can convince him to try* With those few signs, SnakeEyes seated himself on the floor to meditate. Whether he achieved inner peace was secondary to achieving outer quiet from being asked all the questions both of the younger people would no doubt want answered on the subject. Relaxing his body, he did feel somewhat better now that Hawk had backed up his offer. His commander wasn't terribly pleased at first but once he'd thought of the idea of having both ninja masters on his Joe team, he'd become almost gleeful, suggesting several options for SnakeEyes to use to entice the former enemy in.

By the time Jinx's stirfry and noodles were done, he rose smoothly to take his plate into his room to eat privately.

Dusty glanced over to watch him go and then smiled happily at Jinx. "This is awesome! I didn't realize you could cook _and_ kill people!"

She couldn't help but smile back. "Well, it's one of the only things I can cook, but thank you. I have many more ways to kill people than I have of cooking. Eggs or stirfry are my only two dishes I can do well." She began eating quickly, watching him eat his own laden plate with a great deal of enthusiasm.

Dusty swallowed and poked at the zucchini a few times. "Normally I'm not a fan of these, but you just made everything so tasty." His eyes shot over to the closed door to SnakeEyes' room and he paused. "The food I mean.. nothing else."

She tilted her face down slightly so she could look up through her eyelashes seductively. "Oh? Just the food is tasty? How... disappointing."

Dusty stared at her and she could practically see his male libido having a screaming match with his self-preservation instincts. "Ahhh... I mean..." Evidently, the sheer terror that her Sensei had instilled in the man won out. "I meant the food of course.. I wouldn't be so crass to make such a remark on anything else, Jinx."

She gave a little sigh of disappointment and stirred her food about with her fork. "Oh.. of course." Her diffident tone made her interest plain. "Oh well... it was just a passing thought." She leaned over the table slightly, giving him a nice glance of her cleavage before sitting upright and going back to her dinner. If he wasn't going to brave the older ninja to try for her, she might as well enjoy torturing him. The little strangled noise that she barely heard from deep in his throat made her smile on the inside. "This is really tasty."

Dusty sighed to himself and very sternly told his inner dog to sit and stay. It ignored him but he tried to concentrate on the food on his plate instead. It wasn't bad enough that he had to suffer in the cold weather outside, he'd also have to take a cold shower tonight inside the apartment. Somehow the mission accompanying Kimi had seemed so much more attractive when he'd pictured them together without the overlooked fact that SnakeEyes would be along. For a teammate that stayed out of sight most of the time, he certainly had a way of making his presence felt at all times. Especially whenever Dusty happened to catch a glance of thigh or began to think about how nicely Kimi's skirt draped over her... he glanced to his left with only his eyes and froze when he caught sight of SnakeEyes standing there.

"H-h-hi Snakes... wasn't... uhh... wasn't dinner really good? Kimi.. I mean, Jinx is a really good cook isn't she?" Grabbing up his own plate, Dusty shoved the last bites into his mouth and jumped up to drop his plate into the sink of pans. "I'll just do the clean up here.. washing the stuff, you know."

SnakeEyes simply stared at him a few seconds before handing over his own plate. He stood just long enough to make his teammate begin to twitch before he returned to the floor to a lotus position to meditate again. Although retreating to the privacy of his room would have been preferable, at this point, keeping an eye on the two young people seemed to be necessary.

He took several deep breaths and tried to relax. Tommy just didn't know how things were going with his young cousin. SnakeEyes told himself that a few times to quiet the inner voice calling him a prude.

* * *

End chapter

Not much needed for ending author's notes... I hope you enjoy and there's more to come! Poor Dusty might need ulcer meds by the time this mission is over. Thank you to all the folks who reviewed!


	4. Chapter 4:But it SEEMED like a good idea

Thank you to my reviewers! Yes, Dusty has it rough this story. Poor guy. We all love him so!

Same disclaimers, I own nothing, get no moneys, love GI Joe. I hope you're all enjoying this story. It'll get more exciting, I promise.

* * *

Chapter 4

Dusty was on top of the roof again, finally finishing up the maintenance on the heavy AC unit. Tugging his hat firmly around his ears again, he cursed at the icy wind trying to find a spot to get into his coat.

"Brisk ain't it?" One of his crew grinned cheerfully at the miserable desert specialist. "You look like you'd prefer to be in Florida right now! Ha!"

Dusty just grumbled under his breath and began hooking up the sensors before he paused and looked at them. Glancing over his shoulder, he looped the wires over the relays without allowing them to make contact. Powering the alarm system to boot up, he hoped that it wouldn't notice that the triggers were detached. If it worked, the entry to this duct would be completely unguarded while the security system believed all was fine.

He smiled as the green lights came on and picked up the outer cover to snap into place. When he began gathering up the tools to put into his toolkit, he heard a soft 'click click click' from inside the metal casing.

Before he could react a horrendous noise filled the air. He clamped hands over his ears as the siren went off. "HOLY SHIZZLE!" Backing up, he looked up at the speaker that was already issuing security alerts and orders for various teams to converge on the roof. "Oh crap!" He yanked the cover off and shut down the alarm panel by pulling the power supply. Instead of shutting off the sirens, the loud alarms continued and he whirled as a heavily armed security team of barely disguised Vipers came rushing out to surround the work crew.

"Freeze!" The head Viper checked the entire roof before returning to stand in front of Dusty. "Who are you? Clearance!"

"Well, I'm already frozen... but here..." Dusty handed over his ID card and waited nervously while the whole crew was patted down roughly. "It's my fault, I didn't check the wiring was tight before I hooked up the alarms... totally my bad, man. Sorry."

The Viper leader handed back the ID card and motioned the team to stand down. He radioed in to shut down the alert. "It's just this dipshit maintenance guy screwing up."

Although the last thing Dusty wanted to do was cause anyone to look closely at himself, he knew it'd be out of character for a member of the support crew to not object. He put plenty of outrage in his voice as he took his hands off his head. "Hey! Who the heck you calling a dipshit, you gorilla?"

The Viper casually elbowed the side of Dusty's head. It was a move the trooper saw coming and could have blocked or turned into a shoulder toss to send the man reeling to the ground or even over the low ledge to plummet to his death. But a repair guy wouldn't be able to do that sort of move, so he allowed the elbow to knock him sprawling. He did move just enough that it merely rang his skull instead of doing any real harm.

"Mouthy, aren't you?" Standing over him, the viper slung his weapon casually. "Get up and get this system hooked up properly and on line. Now!"

Crawling to his feet slower than he really needed to, Dusty staggered a few steps rather theatrically before collapsing to his knees at the panel. He rewired everything and finally plugged the sensor array in before turning the power on the control board. Everything blinked through the normal green lights, then Dusty watched with annoyance as they all turned red, then blinked one by one through the yellow then green as the main control station ran a full check of the system. Evidently it wasn't enough that they sent a security team, but they would also double check the system from the control booth. As he was hooking the cover back into place, he spotted the panel on the access door blinking red then yellow then green..

"What's with the door?" He stood up and pointed.

One of the security team glanced over and shrugged. "They'll run a full diagnostic and check on the whole security system, panel by panel. Your little dumbass mistake just cost the security team the rest of the shift in system checks." He spat on the light dusting of snow and glared at Dusty. "Dumbass."

"Sorry!"

* * *

Jinx narrowed her eyes at the computer screen, putting the finishing touches on her worm program before scrolling through it to check line-by-line for mistakes. Instead of sitting upright and looking intently at the computer, she was sitting leaned on one elbow, twirling a single lock of hair through her fingers over and over. Her gaze flicked away from the screen every so often to gaze around in a bored blank-eyed manner, looking as if she was merely killing time before five o'clock rolled around.

Taking a deep breath, she sighed it out and tilted her head back, balancing her fluffy ended pencil on her upper lip for a full minute before 'accidentally' losing it. She immediately looked around with a self-conscious giggle and covered her mouth and scooped it off the floor when she spotted a couple co-workers watching. She mouthed 'sorry' at them and bent back over the screen, glancing back around a few times before she 'forgot' her embarrassment and became engrossed in her normal work.

Everyone in the entire building had been rounded up and sent to various 'secure' rooms to be checked one by one. Kimi had almost tearfully produced her ID badge, wringing her hands and asking every co-worker in a loud whisper what happened and why everyone looked so mad. One of the older managers had finally hugged her lightly with one polite arm and reassured her.

"Kimi, everything is fine. I'm sure it's just a routine exercise to make sure all our security is working. Just don't cross any of the security officers, they aren't very nice if you don't obey their orders." The older woman smiled nervously and nodded at her. "It's just a few minutes of inconvenience, then we'll all be back to work. So give us a smile, there's a good girl." She was patted gently like a somewhat tolerated spaniel and finally sent back to her cubicle.

Now finishing checking her program and watching her co-workers beginning to stretch and look at the clock, Jinx fumed inside, trying to figure out what could have set off a full alert. Despite her anxious act during the alert, she'd been running all her exit strategies to decide which would have the best chance of her surviving and escaping the building, just in case the alert was a sweep to find a Joe operative hidden among the office drones. Once everyone was back at their desks, 'Kimi' quickly forgot her fright and continued with her daily work schedule. 'Jinx' kept a close eye on anyone entering their floor who didn't work there on a weekly basis in addition to covertly checking the security cams on her desktop screen to see if there were any teams assembling anywhere for a raid.

She'd seen nothing but bored and irritable security Vipers, wandering the halls in their regular two-man teams on their regular routes. The cams showed a few extra men in the main sensor array rooms, obviously conducting some sort of system wide check for an unknown reason. Jinx had disabled the program that spied on the building's security camera network, letting the system check glide over the inert programming without detecting it. Once the camera system debugging had finished, she simply reactivated the program to check again. By the time the work day was finishing, most of the extra personnel were gone and the regular shifts had resumed.

"Hey Kimi!" Frankie, one of the youngest clerks in her office tapped her cubicle wall. "Remember to be on time tomorrow! It's bagel day!"

She clapped her hands quickly and bounced. "I hope they have the cranberry ones! I LOOOOVE those best!" He grinned and walked away, basking in the attention that Kimi bestowed on him. Once he was away, she checked the security system one last time before clicking her worm program into the boot files and closing everything out.

Gathering her things as her computer shut itself down, Jinx smiled happily. "Oh bagels! I'd be just as happy with blueberry ones.." She spoke quietly to herself, humming a catchy pop tune and tilting her head about to the inner music. Her invasive program would sit dormant for exactly twenty-nine hours and thirteen minutes before it started itself up. The timing was completely random as the program itself would only create a short window of opportunity in one of fourteen access points to the building SnakeEyes had found. Each thirty-four minutes it would go to the next access point in the listing and disable the sensors for exactly seventy-seven seconds. Once it began, her sensei could decide which point was his best chance, according to which security measures, random workers and weather conditions were around it.

Just over one minute to gain access, then he'd have to time his exit the same way, picking a exit point according to the same criteria, getting to it and through it while the sensors were disabled for that seventy-seven second window. For any normal commando, it would take massive luck to make it work without getting caught or muffing the timing.

Her Sensei wasn't a 'normal commando'. Jinx/Kimi smiled brightly at the sour faced Viper standing at the security check-point. He snorted slightly as she skipped past him, her time card punched, her ID badge scanned at both of the doors and her false persona firmly in place as she left.

* * *

End Chapter

Methinks Dusty will be in trouble. More soon!


	5. Chapter 5:Confrontations

And so, finally a confrontation...

Updating a day early, thanks to TinySprite.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, it's very appreciated.

* * *

Chapter 5

Back at the apartment, Dusty was enduring a good raking over the coals for his foolish risk. " I thought it would work!" He stood as Jinx told him over again how his mistake had nearly ended in the entire mission being scrubbed and everyone being killed outright.

SnakeEyes stood and watched this with some amusement. Finally he snapped his fingers to attract her attention. *Everyone would not have been killed. No one knew about me*

She narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Oh yes, I forgot. Most important Silent Master would have gotten away to carry the tiding of our abject failure back to the base." Her angry gaze fastened on Dusty again. "Failure because you didn't stick to your orders!"

He raised his hands towards the ceiling. "Oh good LORD! Forgive me for trying to do my job, to make a security hole for our commando here to enter the building unnoticed. That IS the objective, isn't it? Or is the new objective actually, 'everyone kowtow to Kimi so she can be the big star'? Because if the mission parameters changed, no one informed ME!"

She sucked in a breath. "Kowtow? Oh yess, I'm just concerned with being the center of attention. Of COURSE!" She flung her arms up at him. "It can't be that I happen to be the main operative... that I'm the one who is supposed to write a program and get it into the computer's security systems to open that window of opportunity... that I'm the one undercover right under Cobra's noses. NOooooo! It's that I'm a spoiled starlet who wants to be the big star!"

Dusty's eyes rolled dramatically. "Oh great... yes Jinx. You're the big shot on the mission. You're the one who's doing all the work. Never mind that I have to be maintenance, that I've got to pass daily security checks because they EXPECT a blue-collar worker to be a spy.. nooo, it's all about you, because you're the only person doing anything dangerous. You're exactly right. Poor Jinx, soooo in danger." He walked into the living room to turn a circle. "It's such a pity that you have to sit behind a desk while I have to do all the heavy work all day just to keep from being under suspicion. Then when I see an opportunity and try for it, I'm the bad guy. Sometimes things don't go as planned, okay? This is what happens when you work with the big boys!"

She stalked up to him to put a finger under his nose. "Don't you dare start in about me not being one of the guys. If you even start in about a girl being on the team instead of someone like Breaker or Mainframe, I swear I will feed you your own nutsack!"

Dusty stepped back carefully. "HEY! I never said nothing about you being a girl! Hell, Scarlett's a girl and I never said she was incompetent!"

"OH NOW I'M INCOMPETENT!"

SnakeEyes stepped between them finally and glared down at Jinx. She twitched with anger as she glared back. "But Sensei, he..."

A sharp snap of his fingers and SnakeEyes pointed at her room. She clenched her jaw and started to retort and he pointed again. She practically stomped into the bedroom to slam the door shut.

Dusty couldn't hold back a snicker as he watched the door slam. "Hey... you just sent her to her room... does she have to stand in a corner too?" He glanced back at the commando and jumped backwards at the glare. "Uhh... sorry... just.. there's no reason for her to get all mad, it wasn't my fault!"

SnakeEyes' signs were slightly jerky and abrupt, telling Dusty the ninja was actually angry. *You set off a security sweep without running it by either of your teammates.*

Dusty protested weakly. "Well, yeah but I thought it would work..."

A sharp finger snap. *What if I had already been inside? What if Jinx had been gaining access to sensitive files?*

Dusty looked away and tugged at his shirt collar. "Well, I didn't think that it..." He sagged. "Okay okay, I was wrong. I shouldn't have. But it looked like the perfect way. I didn't think it would set off a alert, I thought at worst the system wouldn't boot up. Then I'd just fix it and no one would know. I've never seen one do that. It's like the security system backups have backups that have backups. It's redundant!"

SnakeEyes snorted. *Unless they want to keep out trained commandos and infiltrators*

Dusty grinned sheepishly. "Well, yeah, you know.. or that." He looked at the door. "Well, if I'm the wrong one, why'd you send her to her room?"

Turning to head towards her door, SnakeEyes shook a finger at him. *To keep her from neutering you in a fit of temper, or did you forget she can do that in under two seconds?*

Dusty went a bit green and shuddered. SnakeEyes stepped into Jinx's room and caught a shurikin between his thumb and forefinger as Jinx flung it towards the door. She jumped up to stand beside the bed. "Sorry Sensei!"

He glanced at the door to see eleven similar stars embedded in a neat row and sighed. Handing the weapon back to her, he motioned for her to sit. *Kimi you cannot berate your teammate like that*

She crossed her arms defiantly. "He was wrong!" SnakeEyes simply waited and she finally puffed at him. "He WAS! Even if I shouldn't have.. yelled at him..." Jinx slumped slightly. "I'm sorry I yelled at him. But he endangered the mission with that stunt and he could have gotten caught."

SnakeEyes nodded. *Yes but he was taking a risk in hopes of completing the mission. You must work with your teammates better* He turned to leave. *Apologize to Dusty for yelling* His sleek form stepped out of the door only to pause. The way his back had stiffened made Jinx leap up, holding weapons ready for battle.

She ducked her head enough to see past her sensei's arm into the living room to see a white clad form sprawled casually on the couch with a completely unconscious Dusty taking up the far end. "Tommy?"

SnakeEyes blocked her path to her cousin with one arm and signed furiously at the uninvited guest. StormShadow looked over at the unconscious trooper and shrugged. "He was about to start screaming. You know that hurts my ears. I just put him to sleep, he'll wake up fine."

Putting a hand to his forehead, SnakeEyes stepped aside for Jinx to run out and stop short of the slender man in the living room. "Tommy?"

He stood and spread his arms with a grin. "Little Kimi! All grown up! No greeting for your beloved older cousin?"

She looked uncomfortable. "I don't know... my cousin never tried to murder my teammates or behaved with great dishonor to his clan brother... are you my cousin or are you a Cobra ninja?"

Looking just a little hurt, Storm lowered his arms. "I'm sorry Kimi. I... I have made many mistakes in my life. I cannot hope to regain my honor but I intend to try for the rest of my days."

Kimi still looked hesitant. "I thought you were being controlled with Mindbender's crazy machine."

He looked aside, tensing up at the mere mention of the cruel device that had stolen his mind and will for so long. "I... I was, later. But I did take employment with Cobra to begin with to find the Hard Master's killer. I was wrong to have done so at the time, and regret that decision." He gave a deep bow to her. "I apologize Kimi, I should not have come, I did not mean to cause distress."

She suddenly flung herself on him, hugging him tightly. "Tommy! I missed you!" He embraced her back, his face so full of emotion that SnakeEyes busied himself checking his teammate propped up in the corner of the couch. Dusty seemed fine, if deeply unconscious. Snakes tilted his head over in a more comfortable position and sighed. He hoped when Dusty woke up this time he wouldn't have a headache.

All three ninja sat comfortably on the floor sipping tea and talking quietly of nothing in particular. Finally Jinx looked at SnakeEyes, ignored his slight headshake to turn to Storm and blurt out. "What are you going to do now? Will you come join GI Joe? You should."

Tommy looked uncomfortable and glanced at his sword brother before he replied. "I don't know yet. It's not so simple."

Jinx pressed on. "But it IS simple! If you say yes, Hawk will just make it happen! He can make anything happen in the military and politics. Besides, who is going to tell a guy no when he's got three ninja on his side already?" She smiled slyly at SnakeEyes. "Well, two and a half ninja, I don't think Kamakura counts as a full ninja yet."

SnakeEyes rolled his eyes at her. *Do not snipe at your apprentice brother when he's not here to defend himself*

"Yes Sensei, I shall only snipe at him when he is present." Her cheeky smile made him close one eye to glare at her, so she turned to StormShadow again. "He's coming along but he's not nearly as advanced as a typical Arashikage student."

Now StormShadow chastised her. "Of course he is not. He is in a military unit, subject to being sent on missions and with daily duties to perform other than merely training as a proper apprentice would be in the Arashikage compound. It most likely does not help him that his apprentice sister mocks him and detracts from his training rather than supporting him and assisting in his lessons as she should."

Jinx sipped at her tea meekly. "Yes Cousin. You are correct."

Tipping his head over to SnakeEyes, Storm continued in a slightly amused voice. "Of course, a bit of competition doesn't hurt training at all... so it's not all bad to have someone so much better than him. Only having you as a Master instead of several Arashikage Masters might also slow his rate of learning as well."

SnakeEyes ignored that and instead signed to ask if Storm had made any decisions.

Tommy leaned back slightly and contemplated the delicate teacup. "I have." He paused, looking off blankly for a moment.

A quick snap of fingers brought his attention back. *Stop drama, tell decision*

"Oh so impatient Brother. Have you lost all your discipline? Okay..." Storm blocked a quick snap towards his head and held up a hand to fend off any further attempts. "I will give Hawk a meeting. But I'm not promising to join your team! And if he tries to arrest or capture me during the meeting, I will escape and disappear!" His mouth had firmed into a hard line and SnakeEyes saw him reaching to tug at the cowl that lay loosely on his neck. He knew the urge to cover your face when uncomfortable himself.

*No one will try to harm you* His motions were smooth and soothing. *Hawk is a man of great honor and also great intelligence. He sees the potential in having another ninja ally even if you refuse to become a full member of the team*

Relaxing, Storm shrugged in a false gesture of nonchalance. "I am unworried."

They all turned to look as Dusty emitted a deep snort. Jinx sighed at him. "He's going to be sooo upset when he wakes up. I don't suppose we could claim he tripped and hit his head and StormShadow was never here, could we?"

SnakeEyes frowned at her. *He would know he hasn't hit his head, there's no knot*

She smiled in a way that made him sigh. *No, you may not whack your teammate on the head so he won't ask difficult questions* That earned him another sigh.

Storm flowed up to his feet smoothly. "I should go before he wakes up."

SnakeEyes held out a hand to stop him on his way to the half open window. *Wait* He looked at Dusty then seemed to make a decision. *Stay and meet Dusty*

"Are you MAD Brother? I knocked him out! He's hardly going to want to meet and greet a insane former enemy ninja who just assaulted him!" Storm seemed to be wondering if his sword brother had taken leave of his senses.

*Dusty is a good man. If you cannot charm him you'd have no chance with any of the other Joes* SnakeEyes gave a pose of sudden indifference. *If you don't believe you can talk a mere trooper around to accepting you, that's fine. Perhaps you've lost your glib tongue in the years you've been gone*

StormShadow bristled slightly then rolled his eyes and relaxed. "Oh... that was so subtle. 'Oh no! I'll show you! I'll charm the pants off this guy just to show you I can!' Is that the response you wanted? Smooooth Brother. As if I'd fall for that. Did you seriously think that I'd just fall for reverse psychology?" He crossed his arms and looked smug.

SnakeEyes smiled and reached to pull his mask back on, shaking his head. *I wanted to delay you until Dusty finished waking up. Now you have to say something to him*

Storm gaped for a second then turned as Dusty groaned and sat up holding his neck with a shaky hand. "Uhhhh..."

Dusty blinked at him for a full four seconds. "AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHH! DON'T KILL ME!" He fell over the back of the couch and scrambled to the far corner of the room, which happened to also hold the potted fern. Despite the distinct lack of coverage, he chose to hide behind the lightweight wicker stand. "Oh god oh god oh god.. I knew it, never volunteer to go on missions where you're the only non-ninja Dusty, it's stupid Dusty, oh no, I'm sure it'll be fine, after all, what's the worst that could happen, oh I dunno, you could DIE TO DEATH FROM STABBINGS! OH GOD!"

Looking rather appalled, the white-clad ninja turned to smirk at SnakeEyes. "Well this is a great beginning! I'm sure we'll be best friends in no time!" When he received no response other than a pointing finger, Storm stepped closer and leaned down to peer at the legs sticking out from the side of the planter. "I'm not going to stab you..." He reached to pull aside some of the draping fronds so he could see Dusty's face.

Dusty shrieked again. "OH GOD! He's gonna kill me with a fern! Please don't kill me with a fern! It's gonna look stupid on my tombstone! You can't make a guy live with 'killed by fern' on his headstone!"

Chuckling now, Storm straightened up and looked thoughtful. "Well, technically speaking, you wouldn't be 'living' with the headstone... I mean.. you would be dead if you had a headstone..."

There was a terrified moan from behind the plant. "I'm gonna dieeee... I shoulda listened to Footloose... he said 'don't go on a ninja mission', I said, hey it's Jinx, she's cute, it'll be great, should have listened to the hippy, Dusty... the hippy knew... the hippy was wise... now... dead... by FERN..."

"I'm NOT going to kill you with the fern..." StormShadow turned and raised his hands at SnakeEyes who made a shooing motion for him to talk to Dusty more. "I'm.. uh... I just wanted to meet you and say hi."

"Suuure.. you just want to lull me into relaxing so you can kill me easier! You're not fooling me! I'm not coming out!" Dusty scrunched his legs further behind the plant. "No way! You wanna kill me, you're gonna have to come in here and GET ME!"

Storm sighed and looked at the two Joe ninjas. "Is he serious? It's a decorative fern, not a patch of jungle."

Dusty poked his head out to shout at them. "HEY! Why aren't you guys saving me? Huh? You should be stabbing him or throwing stars and shit at him! Do something ninja-y to him so he won't kill me!"

SnakeEyes began to sign reassurance to his teammate but Dusty had hidden behind the fern again so he motioned to Jinx who sighed theatrically. "StormShadow is not trying to kill you, Dusty. He really just wanted to say hello."

A plaintive reply came from behind the plant finally. "Why would he wanna say hello to me?"

She raised an eyebrow at Storm who bent to speak in a polite coaxing tone. "Because it's easier to eviscerate people when you're shaking their hands.. that's why!"

A low moan emerged and the fern started to shake. Storm smirked until SnakeEyes landed a swift punch to the back of his head. "OW!" He turned and rubbed his head. "That was entirely uncalled for, I was OBVIOUSLY joking." SnakeEyes pointed at the shivering fern. "Oh fine!" Storm turned back. "Look, I was just trying to be friendly and make a joke, okay? If I was going to kill you, I would have done it before instead of just put you to sleep in a completely benign and harmless manner. Right?" He smiled in a winsome manner and held out a hand. "Come on, I'd really like a chance to say I'm sorry for knocking you out, okay? At least let me do that? Then if you want to hide again, I'll let you. That's fair, right?"

Dusty's face poked out again. "How do I know I can trust you?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Maybe it's a trick."

Storm kept the pleasant smile plastered on his face gamely. "No trick, I promise." He sighed when the face disappeared. "Oh come on, don't make me drag you out.. it'll be undignified for both of us."

"Don't! I'll come out! Just don't... kill me in any horrible ninja-y way.. okay?" Dusty scooted sideways just a little. "You promise I can go hide in the bathtub? Right? You said!"

"Yes, if you let me say hello and apologize, you can go hide in the bathtub." Storm turned and gave SnakeEyes a querying glance, mouthing 'bathtub?' at him. SnakeEyes shrugged in reply. "Hey.. yes, come on out.. we can go sit in the living room like civilized people."

Dusty brushed his hands on his pants legs nervously, eying the ninja cautiously. "Yeeeeah... living room... " He sidestepped carefully along the wall until he reached the couch and stood with it between him and the dangerous assassin. "Soooo... now can I go hide?" He glared at SnakeEyes. "You know, if I die I'm going to make it a point to haunt you.. not just like, stare at you, but rattle chains and make all your trench knives fall off the walls and hide your toothpaste and really mean stuff."

*You won't die* SnakeEyes settled on the couch and tried to look casual. *Dusty this is StormShadow, StormShadow, this is Dusty. Dusty is a desert trooper who repairs air conditioners and refrigerators* He turned to Dusty. *StormShadow is...* He paused as he tried to think of a polite term to use.

Dusty smirked and tilted his head. "A murderous killer who lops off people's heads with an eyelash. I've seen him before, thanks."

Storm crossed his arms. "I've never removed a head with an eyelash."

Dusty snorted. "You've lopped off plenty with a sword! AND stabbed people through their eyes and stuck those damned star things in them and strangled them with strings..."

Storm broke in to correct him absently. "Actually, I normally use wire for my garrotes. It doesn't leave fibers in the..." He watched SnakeEyes making a cutting motion. "Uuuh, I mean... I have...done these things... in the passsst... but.." He worked his mouth a second thinking. "But then, you've killed people as well, as a soldier does these things." He took a breath. "I do regret working for Cobra now. I spent a long time attempting to get away from them in fact once I decided they were too evil to work for no matter what information the Commander held over my head."

Dusty looked suspicious but his curiosity was peaked. "What information?"

StormShadow looked at the floor and paced for a second, then sat on a cushion on the floor near the couch. "It's a long story... but someone murdered my uncle and framed me for it. Cobra Commander promised me he would give me the killer's name in return for my service to him." He sighed and fiddled with the end of his gi belt. "I was foolish enough to believe him..."

Dusty sat himself down on the couch, on the far end away but much closer than the far corner of the room behind a fern. "Well, sounds more like you were desperate... more than foolish. I mean..." He thought a moment. "I mean if someone killed MY uncle, I sure would want to know who did it."

Storm sighed. "Yes, but I should never have agreed to such a dishonorable deal. Then when I wanted to leave, they used mind control. I'm only glad that I did not manage to kill my clan brother SnakeEyes." He gave the other ninja a fond glance to which SnakeEyes waved nonchalantly. "I would never have forgiven myself."

Dusty looked from SnakeEyes to StormShadow and back. "Whhhy would you say he's your brother?"

"Because we are both Arashikage clan masters and we were students together. That makes us clan brothers." Storm tried smiling easily at the young man again. "It is a bond more deeply held than mere accident of birth."

SnakeEyes gave a sharp look at him over the use of the phrase but StormShadow didn't even blink. *Truth* He didn't reply more than that and Dusty looked StormShadow over again.

After a moment Dusty blinked at him. "You know, you looked a lot bigger when you were... you know, lopping heads off people and all."

The slightly built man straightened up and frowned. "Well... I'm not tiny."

"Oh no.. no no no.. I insulted you didn't I? You're gonna kill me! Don't kill me, you're not little, I didn't mean it!" Dusty took a tumble over the back of the couch and cowered behind it. "I swear! I didn't mean it! It's just I sort of say stuff sometimes that comes out all insulting and stuff but I mean it in a good way like.. umm... good things come in small packages... stuff like that." He stayed behind the couch.

Storm rolled his eyes at SnakeEyes. "I told you this was a terrible idea. He obviously hates me and doesn't trust me and he never will. There's no use whatsoever in doing this." He stood and Dusty's face peered out from under a pillow near the armrest of the couch. "Don't worry... I'm not going to hurt you. I'll just leave..."

Dusty looked at the resigned pose of SnakeEyes then over at the visibly disappointed Jinx, his pillow hat turning as his head did. "Well, I didn't say I hate you... "

Storm shook his head. "It's okay... I don't even care if you hate me, everyone hates me anyway. It's just what I'll have to deal with the rest of my days." He turned away and let out a heavy sigh, his breath catching at the end. He raised his eyebrows at SnakeEyes, mouthing 'is it working?' and getting no response other than an eyeroll. "I'll never be able to... to.. to regain my honor... I've failed my ancestors..." He took another deep sigh and let it out, going as far as shaking his head at himself.

Dusty emerged from the side of the couch and carefully reseated himself. "Well no no.. don't just... " He cast about for a response. "Don't assume that I hate you and stuff... I mean..." Dusty swallowed and stared at SnakeEyes, calmly seated and watching the conversation. He trusted SnakeEyes with his life, and had several times in fact. If SnakeEyes trusted StormShadow not to murder him, then Dusty should be able to trust him... maybe a little bit. "You aren't... _all_ bad. You didn't actually stab me when you came in... that's uhh.. that's kind of a good thing." He tugged at his lip a little. "I mean that's a pretty good thing in fact, because honestly, if you hadn't knocked me out I probably would have tried to shoot you... and then I would have felt bad for shooting SnakeEyes stabbing brother."

"Sword brother." Storm corrected quietly. He turned to gaze thoughtfully at Dusty and came to sit on the cushion again. "So... you really don't hate me?" Far from play-acting now, he seemed rather astounded at the idea. "Even though I've killed some of your cannon fodder? I mean.. what do you call them... greenhorns?"

"Greenshirts." Dusty cleared his throat. "Well, I guess. I mean, I'm not happy about that. They were good people you know. I knew some of those guys and I'm not really... well, I guess I'd have to kind of be a little forgiving, because it wouldn't be very right of me to blame you if most of what you did wasn't your fault... but I'm still kind of angry that they were killed and it was _you_ that killed them." He looked away and finally looked at him again. "But I guess if Snakes vouches for you and Jinx seems to like you too, so you can't really be a real bad guy deep inside."

Storm looked over at the smiling Jinx. "Well, Kimi does kind of have to like me, she is my cousin."

Dusty went pale. "I... I was hitting on your cousin? Oh sweet Mary Mother of God... you really are gonna kill me... please man, I didn't know she was your cousin, I just thought she was super pretty and.. well not just pretty, she's smart and stuff too, but I would never try to date your cousin.. please don't throw sharp things in my eyeballs! I won't look at her ever again!"

Storm sighed and looked at SnakeEyes. "Well, at least he's not back in the fern..."

* * *

End Chapter

Well, it was a very long chapter... I hope it was entertaining!


	6. Chapter 6: Violence! Finally! Action!

Sorry for the delay, I plain forgot to post the new chapter last sunday. Here it is, and with lots of action and violence!

* * *

Chapter 6

Eventually their deadly guest took his leave and Dusty spent nearly a full half hour sitting quietly and tugging occasionally on his lower lip, obviously thinking. SnakeEyes was content to allow the trooper to muse on the night's events. Jinx however was much less patient.

"Well?" She stepped in front of the startled man who jumped and yelped. "You haven't said a thing!"

He bristled a little. "What am I supposed to say? 'Hey what a great guy, let's have him over for coffee and cake'? He's still a guy who killed some of our troops." Getting up, he went to grab his blanket and pillow from the corner. "If you wouldn't mind too terribly much, I'd like to get some sleep." Tossing the covers on the couch, he began jerking the extra cushions off and tossing them aside. Jinx huffed a bit indignantly but retreated to her room to close the door.

SnakeEyes checked the window's locks and alarm before he padded silently back over to look at Dusty. The desert trooper had changed and was flopped over trying to get his pillow stuffed under his head in exactly the lumpiness he liked.

Dusty glared a little at him. "What? Are you going to tell me I'm being uncharitable?" He thumped his head into the pillow twice, making SnakeEyes wince slightly. He himself would use a fist to shape the pillow, apparently Dusty preferred using his actual head. "Heck, I gave him a chance... most of the Joes would have just started trying to blast a hole in him."

SnakeEyes nodded once. *Thank you for giving him a chance* He started to turn then looked down at Dusty. *He is a good man*

Dusty grunted rather irritably. "Yeah well, maybe he is... or maybe he just _was_. I just know that you ninjas make my skin crawl and you're the happy good ninjas on my side. The guy on the other side gives me the willies and I don't feel all that comfortable thinking he might just.. pop in and decide that I should be his last kill before he REALLY goes over to the good side." He rolled over facing the back of the couch and scrunched down into the cushions. After only a second or two he rolled back sheepishly. "Sorry SnakeEyes... I forgot. Did you have anything else to say before I go to sleep? I didn't mean to turn my back like that. Just trying to get comfy and warm."

Hiding a smile for Dusty's inherent thoughtfulness, SnakeEyes shook his head and turned to walk away. He heard a sleepy 'night snakes' from the couch and flicked the lights off before entering his room. He decided that tomorrow he'd steal a thicker comforter for Dusty so the poor man would be able to stay warm.

* * *

Midday at 'work', Jinx stepped into the copy room and resisted the urge to roll her eyes and snort. Tillerman grinned widely at her, his own stack of paperwork already in hand. If she'd taken only a few seconds longer, she would have missed the greasy slimeball completely.

"Kimi, now whatever would you be doing here?" He stepped up close and one hand touched her waist. "Were you following me?" His playful tone didn't quite cover the lecherous desire in his voice.

Jinx thought about the fourteen most painful ways she could break the bones of his arm. Then she hid her mouth with one hand and tittered at him. "Oh no! I wasn't! I have to make copies." She edged away and pretended to be busy at the copier.

He followed her and she could feel his rank breath against her neck and made a little face. Shifting to the side, she could see him step to mirror her movements. His hands slipped around her narrow waist and she jumped up in fake startlement, shrieking theatrically. "OH! Oh you scared me!" She fluttered her hands nervously and then smoothed her skirt several times, palming a narrow pin from the seam as she did so. "You shouldn't sneak up on me! You're such a naughty man!" She giggled again and took a few quick steps to put distance between herself and him.

"Oh come on now... you know you've been teasing at me for a week. Don't act coy any more..." He spread his arms, obviously intent on getting a good feel out of her at the least. "Come on Kimi..."

Jinx hissed under her breath, trying to think of how she could escape without breaking character or getting fired. "Oh but but... Mr Tillerman! I would never! You're a married man!" She actually had no idea currently if he was actually married in real life. He was one of the few people that they knew was part of the Extensive Enterprises Cobra division so she wouldn't feel guilty in the least if she had to eventually stab him through an eyeball, but right now she needed to stay in place in case SnakeEyes needed inside support or something in the mission changed.

He did hesitate for a few seconds. "Well, but this isn't anything... no one will know... it's harmless, just a bit of fun..." His hands spread further to bar her exit.

Jinx tensed, thinking she might be able to get away with him groping her just long enough for her to twist away and escape 'in embarrassment' to the public offices.

"Kimi?" The familiar voice made her body go rigid as the door to the copy room was pushed open. "Hey there's my favorite girl!" Dusty stepped inside and wrapped his arms around her to lift her off her feet in a big hug. "I thought I saw you coming in here!"

"Oh uhh..." Jinx managed to pinch his ribs under cover of the hugging. "What are you doing here?"

He grinned happily and put her down. "Surprising you for lunch!" He turned enough to catch sight of the manager he had to have known was in the room. He stepped a bit away and stuttered a little. "Oh hey, I errrr, didn't know... I mean..." His eyes suddenly narrowed at the middle aged man. "Who are you? And why are you in here with my girlfriend?" Dusty drew himself to his imposing superior height and looked as if he might be considering being angry. Jinx was rather astounded.

Tillerman, a middle aged, out of shape office worker rushed to assure him. "Oh, I'm the... one of the managers here... I was just... uhhh... helping get some copies made... Kimi here just came in..." He snatched up the stack of papers and held them in front of himself. "I was just going."

Jinx stepped up and waved brightly. "I'll see you later on!"

He stuttered as Dusty's eyes fixed on him again. "Uhh, well I'll be fairly busy and probably won't have any time to... socialize."

Dusty's voice was flat. "Pity."

Jinx turned to him smiling brightly. "Oh Ronnie! This was so sweet! We can eat lunch in the break room!" She took him by hand to lead him past the manager. "Isn't he the sweetest wittle Wonnie ever!?"

Tillerman nodded. "I'm sure."

The two Joes walked through the office cubicles, Jinx chattering at top speed about every inane subject she could think up and making especially certain to use various cute pet names for her 'boyfriend' at every opportunity. Dusty did very well to not wince each time and nodded and appeared to be so tolerant of her airheadedness that she was driven to further efforts just to perturb him. For once 'Kimi's' tendency to only talk about her hair, clothes or collection of fluffy pink toys on her desk aided Jinx. None of the other office help seemed surprised to see a boyfriend she hadn't mentioned although several of the male co-workers seemed either annoyed or envious. Oddly, some of the women had the same reaction gazing at Dusty as they walked past.

They collected up Kimi's lunch and sat in the break room to eat, Dusty seating himself right at her elbow and making cutesy faces at her until the other woman in the room left. His low voice murmured in her ear. "Sorry, it was all I could think of to disrupt Mr Sleaze so you wouldn't decapitate him."

She leaned her head over while giggling. "I could have handled it just fine. I didn't need you to come save me." She wriggled in her seat and hid her mouth again as she giggled. "Security cameras in the break rooms."

He smiled back at her. "Could have fooled me. Kimi couldn't fight that guy off so what were you going to do?" His head ducked even lower as he took a bite of his sandwich. "It's just good that I happened to come up to change the filters and saw you go in after sleazy."

She smiled and reached to pat his hand in little butterfly light touches. "Oh Ronnie... you say the sweetest things!" The sound of another coworker entering behind them made him put on a happy expression. "I'm so lucky to have you!" Her heel snapped into his instep and even through his work boot, it hurt. A lot.

"Awww, your the best, honey." His jaw tightened slightly but he knew she saw it. "Anyway, I have to go back to work. You just have a good day, okay sweetie?" He pecked her on the cheek and got up to leave.

"You too Ronnie!" Kimi smiled brightly at her coworker. "Isn't he just adorable?"

Dusty managed to not limp as he moved on to work on filter exchanges. He was certain the apartment would be loud and wondered if the building offered any night shift hours that would keep him away.

* * *

The work schedule didn't allow night shifts for Dusty and so he stood with a resigned expression as he was berated at length by Jinx. SnakeEyes' arrival made her pause long enough for him to break in.

"Look, I couldn't think of anything else to help, okay? I don't want to pose as your boyfriend. But one of your co-workers was talking about how he was in the room and that meant he'd be all over you whether you liked it or not! It's not that I don't think you can take care of yourself! I KNOW you could tie him into small knots and slice him up like deli cheese! I get it! but KIMI couldn't!" He puffed out a breath and then ran his fingers through his short hair a few times, forcing himself to be calm. "Look, I know how capable you are. But I'm here as your back-up in case something happens, and something was happening. I thought the easiest way to keep the guy from harassing you was to present him with a jealous boyfriend. That way you won't have to worry about him following you around at a delicate time and accidentally catching dear little harmless Kimi in international espionage."

She crossed her arms and glared at him anyway. "It'd be domestic espionage."

SnakeEyes looked from one to the other and spread his hands in query.

Jinx glared for a last few seconds at Dusty before whirling to head into her room. "Dusty is now my beloved boyfriend thanks to him 'thinking' again. Thinking isn't his strong suite." Her door shut firmly behind her.

SnakeEyes turned to gaze at Dusty who suddenly became intensely interested in his fingers. "Uhhh, not like... really. Just... pretend for the mission..." Dusty took a step back. "Not like... here or for real... just... for the mission."

Without signing anything, SnakeEyes took himself to his own room to clean up. He'd spent most of the day up to his eyebrows in cobwebs and decades of accumulated dust. The vent system of the warehouse next to the offices hadn't panned out as a entry point but it had been worth the effort for the records he'd filched from the fileroom. The building was used for holding and moving a great deal of cargo for Broca Industries which meant Cobra was transporting a lot of something right under their noses.

The pleasure of reaping an unexpected booty from the warehouse was mostly negated by the discovery of Jinx and Dusty squabbling when he arrived back at the apartment. This time he thought Dusty probably had a point. It would also be useful to be have an excuse for him to talk to Jinx within the building in case communications broke down or there was some urgent message. He couldn't see what it hurt to have the fiction in place, other than Jinx's slightly bruised ego. SnakeEyes personally thought she could use a bit of ego bruising at times.

"Little Kimi certainly is loud at times..." StormShadow's voice made SnakeEyes twist around attempting to hide that he was startled in the least.

He tried to cover by acting like he was merely astounded at the subject. *You should remember her ability to yell*

"You're getting soft being a Joe, SnakeEyes." Storm shook a finger at him. "In the Arashikage compound I would never have been in your rooms without you noticing."

SnakeEyes lifted a shoulder nonchalantly. *I knew you were here*

"You did not. I heard your heartbeat speed up when I spoke. You can't fool me as easily as your clueless teammates." Storm walked aimlessly about the room, picking up various items idly. "I will be meeting with Hawk soon. He seems... honorable." Replacing the earbug onto the pile of electronic devices, he looked over with concern. "Am I making a mistake? You would tell me so, right? You wouldn't send me into a trap for my own good or some other equally stupid noble reason?"

*No trap* SnakeEyes signed reassurances. *Hawk wants you on the team, it's best for you, best for us, worst for Cobra. Why wouldn't he want you on the team?*

Shifting his weight about restlessly, the other ninja suddenly sighed. "I feel I am merely putting myself under a different master than before." He waved off the signed responses. "I know you trust him and you think the GI Joe team is wonderful and I will be best off with you. But it is a very large step for me to trust and you ask me to trust not only you, but an entire team of strangers." He held up a shurikin produced from no where. "I can defend myself from attacks but even I must sleep. Even I cannot be on guard at all times against a revenge attack from one of your teammates and not all of them will be paralyzed with fear of me like 'Dusty'." The throwing star disappeared back into it's hiding spot somewhere on his body. "I am to trust that one of your teammates won't simply try to put a bullet into me when I'm not paying attention. What if I'm wounded? Your medical crew will have me helpless under their hands."

SnakeEyes hurried to respond. *Hawk will order that no one try to harm you and our medics are vowed to help the injured, not harm them.* He paused. *One of our medics is a pacifist, he wouldn't harm you even if you were attempting to chop his head off, he's not likely to do you injury when you are within his care.*

"That crazy one with the 'shoot me now' red outfit? He's really a pacifist?" Storm was completely distracted for a moment. "I thought that was just a joke from the Vipers... really? Isn't he Army? That's just weird."

SnakeEyes huffed our near silent laughter. *Weirder than ninja or evil rulers of terrorist organizations who hiss through silver faceplates?* His hand waved in the air a moment. *Weirder than giant plants used as weapons?*

Before he could continue, Storm snorted. "Well yes, you have made your point but it's bizarre in a odd real-world impossibility sort of way." He sighed. "I'm going to do this." His eyes turned to plead at the masked ninja. "Tell me I'm not making a dangerous mistake."

*You are not making a mistake*

"A dangerous mistake."

*You are not making a dangerous mistake or any sort of mistake* SnakeEyes let his signs flow in smooth movements. *Joining GI Joe will be a good decision*

Storm sighed again, squaring his shoulders in a decisive manner. "Is Lonzo still on the team?" SnakeEyes nodded. "It would be good to connect with him again if he'll even speak to me."

SnakeEyes agreed. When Storm moved to leave, he made a questioning motion. "Don't worry, I'll sneak out without Dusty noticing I was ever here. No need to make him more nervous. He's going to be my first friend in GI Joe, you know?"

Huffing in mock indignation, SnakeEyes signed quickly. *I'm chopped liver?*

"No, no. If I'd reduced you to chopped liver, Hawk would hardly have been so forgiving." Smirking, the white-clad ninja slipped out and SnakeEyes simply shook his head mutely. If his Clan brother did join the team, things would at least be interesting for a while. Certain members of the team were... he mused... 'less apt' to forgive and forget than Dusty. He might end up protecting his sword brother personally.

Small price to pay if it resulted in Tommy joining the Joe team. At any rate, nothing was set in stone yet. SnakeEyes smiled slightly. Once Tommy met Hawk in person, he would join the team. Hawk's personality would snap even Tommy's spine into attention, or SnakeEyes would eat his favorite visor. Tommy had undergone Ranger training. It would show through.

He sighed and got himself ready for bed. No reason to miss sleep. The mission was still ongoing.

* * *

Kimi was smiling vacantly as she went about her regular duties. She was highly aware of the time as it ticked closer to the first window she'd created. Trying not to glance at the clock more often than would be considered normal was difficult. Her sensei should be preparing to enter the building through her efforts and if anything went wrong, Dusty and she would need to act quickly to assist if needed.

Speaking of her less than completely competent teammate... her eyes almost narrowed as he sauntered through the offices. Dusty stopped to begin dismantling the thermostat control. As he bent to fiddle with some tools, she eyed his ass a bit, noticing that the toolbelt somehow did not detract at all.

"Kimi?" The voice at her elbow made her jump slightly, although she turned the automatic head strike into a random flail of her limp wristed hand. "Oh! I didn't mean to scare you!" The manager of the office patted her in a kind manner.

Kimi smiled nervously and twisted her hands. "Oh no no, it's okay. Is there something you needed?" She hurried towards her desk, speaking over her shoulder. "I was just... ummm.. just getting some water." She hoped she looked thoroughly embarrassed.

Her manager shook her head. "Just those papers you were to have finished by the end of today. Were they done?" She looked relieved when Kimi handed her the bundle. "Thank you Kimi."

Now back at her desk alone, Jinx surreptitiously checked the security camera feeds, checking for any unusual activity that might indicate Sensei had been discovered. Everything looked calm and normal, the security goons lounging around looking bored. It was now past the first window in the security protocols, that possible breach that SnakeEyes would be exploiting if all else was clear for him.

Jinx was a very experienced operative. She showed not the slightest sign of her knowledge of a skilled ninja sneaking about the innards of the most secure areas of the office building. That didn't mean that she wasn't hiding massive anxiety about how the infiltration was going. Her faith that her Sensei was a skilled and experienced ninja master who should find the office building to be a moderately difficult exercise didn't actually banish the slight worry over the possibility of his capture. She frowned to herself. Perhaps not his capture... but maybe his detection. Detecting a ninja was a possibility... catching one was, to many Cobras especially, not quite so easy.

Her work was simple enough that she could think far too much while finishing up. The possibilities of her cousin finally being safe and serving alongside them simmered at the top. The danger that her sensei and teammate was possibly courting right at this moment was mixed in with that. The nicely toned body of her other teammate was barely a distraction... albeit a very pleasant distraction.

She watched a man in a expensive suit appear at the security center and begin to wave his arms in an agitated manner. Her eyes found Dusty across the room. Her hand went up to fuss with her hair, fingers twisting into signs to alert her teammate that something might be happening. His eyebrows lifted and she saw his hand slide one of his larger wrenches closer to hand. Whatever he was doing with the thermostat on the wall seemed to take all his concentration, but she saw the quick glances whenever someone walked into the room.

Jinx watched the security center suddenly erupt in chaos. New security goons ran up and were pointed in various directions. She flipped through all of the camera feeds to the building and saw several security teams moving about but no sign of any fighting or chasing. Slightly relieved that SnakeEyes was not, in fact, fighting for his life anywhere at this moment, Jinx noted two new 'security squads' who were obvious Cobra Viper teams. All they lacked was the Cobra icon plastered on their body armor. The automatic weapons they clutched to their chests made Jinx ever so slightly nervous.

Dusty's raised voice made her attention swerve away from the camera feeds. The desert trooper was arguing in faked confusion with two security men. Jinx almost automatically closed down the programs on her computer as she stood and snatched up a handful of file folders to walk through the offices. Her path was angled to take her near the confrontation that was quickly escalating to shouts.

Dusty was still professing innocence, tugging his arm loose from the one guard while arguing with the other. "I didn't do anything! Jebus folks, I forgot to hook a wire up because it's freezing outside! It's not like I was safe cracking in a vault! I'm a air conditioning repair dude, not a cat burglar!" The guard grabbed his arm again in a rough grip. "Hey, leggo!"

Kimi rushed up to flail lightly at the trooper with a file folder. "Why are you hurting Ronnie? Leave him alone! You're so mean!" Her wails rose as her theatrical and ineffective pushes positioned the guards side by side instead of to either side of Dusty who was now dividing himself between protesting innocence to the guards and soothing at his 'hysterical girlfriend'.

"Honey, please don't cry... it's just a misunderstanding! You're making a scene. Stop yanking on my arm!" Dusty jerked harder, slipping free of the grasping hands. "You guys are freaking my gal out, explain to her that this is nothing."

The two inept guards were beginning to show frustration, but they were loathe to push around a tiny helpless girl on the verge of tears. One began rolling his eyes while the other had to put his hands up to fend off the floppy papers she was still flailing into his face. "Calm down, good GOD stop it!"

Kimi began pushing slightly forward, maneuvering the men into a less defensible spot next to the water cooler and some flimsy tables. Dusty's eyebrows twitching made her deliberately miss one swing so that she could stumble a little bit and look to the doorway of the offices. Four Cobra Vipers in full uniforms and semi-automatic weapons had just walked in and were looking about the cubicles at the staring desk jockeys. Her eyes met Dusty's and he tilted his head towards the door just a little. Her slight nod answered him and they began to 'struggle' in subtly different directions, moving the small group bit by bit towards the doors. The Vipers had spread out slightly, and Jinx was covertly looking over them to mentally count up weapons she might be able to pick pocket off them if she brushed up against one on her way out.

One Viper's eyes met hers for an instant before turning to the 'obviously' much more credible threat of Dusty. Before she blinked a second time he jerked his head back around to stare at her face. When she saw his eyes widen, it clicked that he was familiar because she had once faced him in a minor hand-to-hand battle. She would lay money that his neck still bore a scar from her personal katana blade.

"They're JOES!" From the pure fury in the Viper's voice, it sounded as if he'd taken being stabbed and left bleeding on the floor rather personally and was still holding a slight grudge. Kimi flashed him the smug smile of confidence. Then she twisted smoothly on her toes and slammed one fist up into the nose of the guard. Expecting nothing more substantial than a file folder, he crumpled to the ground before his brain even registered the threat that had appeared out of the tiny asian girl.

Before Dusty could raise a fist, she spun into a high kick that knocked the second guard into the wall to slump down in a heap. "Let's get out of here." She didn't wait for him to respond, simply turned and ran down the aisle at a angle away from the Vipers who were trying to get to them through the crowd. Jinx didn't pause as she leapt onto the nearest desk to use the 'upper highway' of the cubicle walls to flank the Vipers before they had really registered that she wasn't still standing in the original spot.

When she came to the end of the line of desks, she jumped, landing and sliding neatly into the doorway. The Vipers who had made it halfway to the original spot were already wading back through the now paniced office workers to the exit they'd left unguarded. Jinx's grin of triumph faded as she glanced back to her teammate who was laboriously attempting to clamber over a desk with two computer cords wrapped around a knee. "Really?" She sighed.

He glared at her as he dropped over the last wall. "Not! A! Ninja! Remember?" He puffed out a exasperated breath and turned to face the Viper squad that had finally shoved the last people out of the way. "Now look guys... I'm sure there's been some misunderstanding..." He smiled and held his hands up. "We'll just leave and that'll make everything okay, right?" He ducked the first punch thrown at his head by a security guard. Dusty grabbed the guy by the head and slammed him into a desk and dodged out the doorway just behind Jinx. "Time to go go go.. ummmgh..." He ran into his smaller teammate as she stopped suddenly. "Not time to stop..."

She backed up into him, giving a shove to speed him up. "Back in the office..." She reached into her hair and slid a thin hair stick out to flick down the hallway. It embedded in a Viper's left eye, dropping him in his tracks. The other nine barely paused in their rush towards the intruding Joes. Jinx dodged past Dusty to take down one security guard who had made it though the press of office workers. 'Kimi's' co-workers were panicing and surging towards the doorway and back away from it, undecided about whether fleeing the room or avoiding the area of conflict was the better choice. The confusion actually helped the Joes as they interfered more with the Cobras than they did with the pair.

Dusty took a moment to slam a security guard in the head with a chair. "New plan?" He ducked a swing with a baton and shoved the attacker backwards into the crowd. "New plan quickly?" He was kicked in the stomach and went flying backwards into the nearby water cooler. When he slammed onto his back on the floor, he blinked for just a moment watching the teetering five gallon jug of water. As it tilted back and forth balanced haphazardly on the dispenser he thought to himself about how any other time, it would be nearly empty but because it was about to fall onto his unprotected face, it was, of course, full. Then it toppled over and fell onto his unprotected face and he squawked and flailed.

Jinx was unimpressed by his yelps of pain. "Get up! We have to get out of here!" She threw a stapler into the side of one guy's head to stun him before he could stomp on Dusty's head. "Get up already!" she yelled.

"I'm fine by the way!" Clambering to his feet, Dusty grabbed the water jug and hefted it over his head, aiming at the guard who had been about to kick him in the head. "Take THIS!" As he pitched the jug, it finished emptying the water onto him and then bounced harmlessly off the Cobra trooper's shoulder with a loud undignified 'bong'. "Oh DAMMIT!" He turned and bulled through the crowd after a retreating Jinx. "What's the plan? You're in charge and stuff... so you're the one who's supposed to have a PLAN!"

Jinx waited for him to get past her and knocked a cubicle wall over to block the Vipers. "Shut up! I have a plan!" She twisted and ran for the ceiling to floor windows on the far end of the room. "WE JUMP!"

Dusty stared as she picked up speed. "WHAT? That's a terrible plan!" He sped after her anyway, if his crazy teammate was leaping out of a fourth floor window, he was following her out. He did have a twinge of hope that she had some ninja ability to make him not turn into a desert trooper pancake however.

Jinx judged the distance perfectly and leapt into the air, slinging herself around to slam feet first into the sheet window, expecting to crash through and begin a free fall. Unfortunately, the windows turned out to not be glass after all and she did a ungainly bounce off of the heavy acrylic surface and landed in a heap in front of Dusty, who did a even more ungainly trip and fall over her. The loud thunk of his face hitting the window did make her feel just a tiny tiny bit better though.

He groaned and rolled to his feet and staggered. "I told you that was a terrible plan..." Feeling at his jaw, he opened and shut his mouth a few times. "I think I lost a tooth..."

She snarled at the unbroken window and her slightly broken teammate. "Shut up... back up plan..." Turning to head back towards the crowd, she slammed a kick into the chest of the first Viper who made it through the cubicle wall barricade. "We go back to the door and head for the stairs!"

Dusty used a chair to whack the second Viper as he argued. "That's not a great plan either!"

She growled and let her frustrations translate to pummeling the third Viper, noticing another four entering the room as they fought. "Well, we can always go back to plan one... jumping out the window..."

"You know what?" Dusty panted as he tried to defend himself from attack. "I like the stairs plan... great plan Jinx... let's do that!"

"I thought you'd agree..." She pulled hidden blades loose from under her clothing. Jinx yelled in the face of the Vipers that finally shoved the flimsy wall aside to face her. "Yo Joe!"

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End chapter. Yes... fighting! Violence! Violence against the bad guys! I'll try not to forget the new chapter next sunday!


	7. Chapter 7:The end

Chapter 7

A day early as a treat for Christmas. This is it, the end, the last chapter. It's been like pulling teeth but here it is.

* * *

SnakeEyes was settled into a good hiding spot on a roof overlooking the courtyard of the office building, waiting patiently for the end of the day when his teammates would exit, headed for the safehouse apartment. He had the purloined information and files tucked away safely and was expecting a few hours of boredom before they all met back for dinner.

The sudden fussing and shouts and alarms made him straighten up. The previously bored security at the front gate emerged from the guardhouse with automatic weapons, pointing around and shouting as more Cobra troopers came rushing out. SnakeEyes sighed to himself and tucked his ear bud into place to listen to the mayhem of voices, all contradicting each other in orders to stop two unidentified people. The ninja had no doubt who those two people would turn out to be. How his teammates managed to get fingered wasn't his concern but whether he needed to get involved in extracting them was a possible issue however. Protecting the information he had stored inside his bodysuit should be foremost in his mind, and knowing Jinx and Dusty were both capable skilled Joes helped him stay put listening to the reports.

Slowly he was able to pinpoint that the fighting was moving along towards the front of the building. Since it only had a few exit points, it only stood to reason that the Joes would choose the shortest distance to cover to get themselves outside of the building. SnakeEyes straightened to stand ready as the reports gained in urgency, declaring that the 'intruders' were now in the lobby area and "about to get away, damn you stupid troopers". He smiled at the frustration in that particular voice.

"How is cousin Kimi doing?"

SnakeEyes tried not to jump at the voice that spoke next to his ear. He knew that Stormshadow noticed him jerking in surprise and pressed his lips together in annoyance.

"You really have gotten lazy, brother. Letting me sneak up on you when you're on a rooftop? Sloppy..." The white-clad ninja shook his head in reproof, smiling rather smugly. "What if I were an enemy?"

Flipping a hand at him dismissively, SnakeEyes instead directed attention to the main entrance of the building. Two security guards spilled out backwards, stumbling through the double doors. They were knocked sprawling by a large metal trash can flung by Dusty who followed it up by jumping on one of the guards with both feet. Before he could reach the second guard, Jinx appeared and bounced the Cobra trooper's head off the steps to knock him unconscious. More Cobra guards came boiling out of the doors behind them and the gate guards began to rush towards them to block their escape route.

SnakeEyes started to get up but Stormshadow put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't you think they're handling things just fine on their own?" The silent man snorted softly but stayed in place waiting and watching. "Kimi's moves are tight and well timed." The tone was perhaps slightly grudging even as the words were admiring. "You've continued her training well." Before SnakeEyes could preen very much, Storm continued. "Of course, most of that would be her early training at the Arashikage compound... and her superior genetics... she IS after all, related to me..."

SnakeEyes let out an expressive sigh and turned to look at him. After a second, Storm lost the battle and smiled. SnakeEyes signed quickly that at least Jinx didn't inherit all of the ego that came along with being related to the ninja Master Stormshadow.

"The greatest ninja of history, Stormshadow..." He corrected his silent friend with a smirk. That gained him another snort of derision. They both watched the battle far below them. "Your overly friendly teammate isn't bad at all... for a non-ninja, of course."

SnakeEyes snorted again. Trying to match his companion's nonchalance, he signed casually. *Did you meet with Hawk?*

Stormshadow's entire body tensed just enough for SnakeEyes to notice. "Yes." He paused for a moment. "He's very persuasive, your general... isn't he?" His eyes followed Dusty as he defeated several opponents. Even comparing the desert specialist with the lithe female ninja, he was still an impressive fighter. "General Abernathy... according to all his records, he's capable of inspiring his men, a brilliant tactician and moves easily in political circles. In person..." He paused again as Dusty clotheslined a Viper that had been headed for Jinx's back. "In person, it's very very hard for one to tell him 'no', isn't it?"

SnakeEyes nodded slowly. *Hawk is a good man*

Letting out a dramatic sigh, Storm turned his attention away from Jinx cutting down a handful of troopers to clear the way for her and Dusty to exit the front gateway. "Well so you tell me repeatedly... I suppose I'll find out for myself. I agreed to sign up to the Joe team... with provisions that General Hawk agreed to."

The black wearing ninja tilted his head to encourage him to explain. Stormshadow turned his face away and SnakeEyes snapped his fingers sharply. *Explain.*

The Arashikage Master thought it over for a moment more. "I'll tell you that it involves a safe house for my apprentice. And generous leave time for me so I can check on him if I feel it's needed." He raised an eyebrow as SnakeEyes began to sign. "No, I'm not telling you details about my apprentice... a secret is best kept by one." He tilted his head back and forth. "Or in this case... two. But still. It's the principle."

SnakeEyes took a few seconds to check that his teammates were in the process of escaping before he responded with annoyance. *You simply enjoy making me wonder* He plucked the ear bud out and tucked it away. *I have to go clear the apartment and meet them*

Stormshadow held up a hand. "I swept the apartment, the gear is in two packs downstairs. And yes... I disposed of everything that I didn't remove." He smirked as he twisted to shinny down a drainpipe to head down the building. "You don't have to thank me... I'm a teammate now."

SnakeEyes snorted at that, but followed him down, silently and unnoticed by the uproar at the Cobra offices.

Dusty felt as if his heart would never stop racing. It wasn't that being in the midst of a life-or-death fight was a novelty. He was a Joe... and before that an experienced veteran of battles more deadly than this one had been. But fighting through a mob of Cobra troops, security guards and Vipers, while keeping up with the deceivingly small ninja Jinx, then racing through streets, dodging into alleys and dim pathways... it had pushed him past his reserves. When they stopped, it wasn't to rest, only to hide. Dusty noticed that Jinx _was_ breathing hard and felt slightly justified in his own weariness. He might not be a "ninja" but he was no slouch.

"You'll be able to retreat to the airfield in ten minutes, there's a patrol coming so I'd suggest you get behind the dumpsters before they arrive."

The voice from just above his head made Dusty swallow a yelp as he dove to the side. "Holyshit... " When he identified the figure as Stormshadow, somehow clinging to the side of the brick building's wall, it did little to calm his newly overclocking heart. "Wh-what are you doing here?!" His eyes darted about, detecting SnakeEyes higher up, obviously watching down the alleyway. The presence of his trusted teammate settled the fear somewhat. He did notice that Jinx had at least flinched when her fellow ninja had startled him.

Stormshadow moved slightly further down the wall, crabbing sideways to peer into the shadows. "I'm here to meet up with the two of you, to join you in the run for the airfield. SnakeEyes and I will guard your rear and scout ahead. It'll be much faster if you can move without having to do both of those duties as well." He frowned at Jinx and spoke quickly in a language that Dusty assumed was Japanese. She got an unhappy stubborn look on her face and answered him in a tart tone, but used Japanese again. From the blink that briefly marred Storm's impassive expression, her rejoinder had struck a nerve. Dusty cheered his teammate for scoring some sort of hit on the former enemy. On the inside, of course. He had no desire to be skewered because his snarking awakened some latent murdering rage.

Jinx motioned Dusty towards the dumpsters. "Get out of sight. Once the patrol is past, we'll make a run for it." As they settled behind the bin, she spoke up again, directing her comments upwards towards their hidden companions. "We'll need to go by the apartment and retrieve our gear." She tilted her head up and spoke with a sarcastic tone. "Unless the two ninja masters have been useful and done that already... seeing as they certainly didn't busy themselves assisting us."

Storm seemed unaffected by her sarcasm. "Well we could have swept down and saved both of you, but I was under the impression that you were both full members of an elite group of American soldiers...highly trained just for combat situations. But I suppose..."

Jinx's glare could have melted the bricks he perched on. "Just because we didn't need assistance is no reason to not assist us."

Dusty spoke up. "Yeah! It's only polite... like holding the door for someone who can obviously open it themselves..." He blinked up at the ninja hanging over his head. "Please don't crush my kidneys."

Stormshadow suddenly smiled and looked at Jinx. "I like him. He has spirit. You should definitely sleep with him until you get tired of him." Without waiting for any reply, he scrabbled further up the wall to disappear. Jinx glared after him while Dusty opened and shut his mouth a few times.

She finally turned the glare onto him. "What?"

He blinked at her, checked the now apparently empty but probably ninja-containing brick wall and then blinked again before he replied. "What what? There's no way I'm ever getting near you! I don't know if I should even be IN the Pitt, what if he's really mad that I was... you know... not that I did anything... but you know I was... what if he's mad over it? You're his little cousin!"

Jinx snorted disdainfully and settled in behind the garbage dumpster as the patrol of Cobra Vipers came through the streets outside the alley. "Don't worry Dusty. If you're all that frightened, I'm sure I can get Duke to install plenty of ferns for you to use as hiding spots."

He frowned and scrunched further under the edge of the trash bags. "Gee thanks Jinx, just because I don't want a murdering deadly ninja out after my guy parts for hitting on his cousin, you gotta make a bunch of jokes. Maybe I should have taken you up on your offers and then you'd know what you'll be missing." His tone would have almost been sulky.

Jinx was briefly torn between wanting to reassure his male ego and getting in a snarky rejoinder. As usual, her mischievous nature showed itself dominant. "Well, perhaps I should let you know..." Her smile was deceptively kind and demure. "...with Stormshadow's 'Ear That Sees', he undoubtedly just heard that. He can hear everything, just so you know."

Dusty blanched. "Why... whhhyyy did I volunteer for this mission? Oh yeah, 'Listen to the hippy Dusty, don't get involved with ninja stuff, Dusty, let someone else go' but noooo, did I listen to Footloose? No, and now I'm gonna die sliced up into tiny baklava sized bits."

Stormshadow's voice seemed to come from next to Dusty's ear. "Oh, I wouldn't cut you into small pieces... it's terribly inconvenient to dispose of evidence when the blood gets all over everything..."

Dusty's forebrain tried to convince him that it was just the new ninja yanking his chain. Dusty's hindbrain was looking for ferns.

SnakeEyes shook his head silently. The patrols had finally left the area and he dropped into the alley to motion the others to move out. They would be at the airfield and headed to the Pitt within an hour with the mission complete and intel in hand. Of course, once they arrived with the possibly least welcome new member of the GI Joe team... then it would get interesting.

* * *

End chapter

Thanks for sticking to the end! Something else will no doubt be up soon!


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